Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Florida Republicans vote to block Trump's tax returns from being released

Despite promises for transparency, Republicans toed the party line last night and once again blocked the release of Donald Trump's tax returns.

The U.S. House of Representatives had a chance to force President Donald Trump to release his tax returns, but House Republicans, including three from Florida, voted unanimously to block the measure.

Joining a 229-185 party split, Miami's three GOP House Representatives Carlos Curbelo, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, opposed the bill to “request the tax return information of Donald J. Trump for tax years 2006 through 2015.”

The resolution was originally put forward by Representative Bill Pascrell (D-New Jersey).

It's worth noting that this is the second time in just two weeks Curbelo, who sits on the Ways and Means Committee, has opted out of pushing for the release of Trump’s tax returns, despite the fact the congressman reportedly said the president should release his forms last year.

Curbelo's office issued a statement regarding the vote. "The Congressman has continually called for Trump to release his tax returns since May of 2016," said the statement. "While the Congressman still believes the President must be transparent with the public, Congress has no power to arbitrarily publish the tax returns of any American."

Every single presidential candidate since 1973 has released their tax returns. So, why should Trump release his? It's not like they'll show that Donald Trump has compromising ties to Russia. Right?